Edited by Gregory E. Kaebnick and Michael K. Gusmano

Emerging biotechnologies hold great promise but could pose great risks. However, the benefits and costs are often difficult to anticipate and hard to quantify, and they can vary widely among the populations and environments.

How can we make wise policy decisions about emerging technologies—decisions that are grounded in facts yet anticipate unknowns and promote the public’s preferences and values? A new special report from The Hastings Center examines the options and proposes improvements. Governance of Emerging Technologies: Aligning Policy Analysis with the Public’s Values, edited by Hastings Center research scholars Gregory E. Kaebnick and Michael K. Gusmano, is the product of a National Science Foundation-supported project at The Hastings Center. Gusmano is also an associate professor of health policy at Rutgers University School of Public Health.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Making Policies about Emerging Technologies
Gregory E. Kaebnick and Michael K. Gusmano

ESSAYS

CBA and Values

Benefit-Cost Analysis and Emerging Technologies
Brian Mannix

Demystifying Evidence-Based Policy Analysis by Revealing Hidden Value-Laden Constraints
Adam M. Finkel

Criticisms and Alternatives

Behavioral Economics and the Public Acceptance of Synthetic Biology
Adam Oliver

Lessons from Environmental Regulation
Amy Sinden

Integrating Scenario Planning and Cost-Benefit Methods
Stephen C. Aldrich

Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis in the Governance of Synthetic Biology
Wendell Wallach, Marc Saner and Gary Marchant

From CBA to Precautionary Appraisal: Practical Responses to Intractable Problems
Andrew Stirling and Josie Coburn

CBA and Precaution: Policy-Making about Emerging Technologies
Gregory E. Kaebnick and Michael K. Gusmano